Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh. Genesis 2:24

Hello friends,

Maybe I should say, hello stranger! I realize it's been quite a long time since I've posted anything in my blog. Have you missed me? I have fond memories of blogging, but have found myself with a few life changes that have put blogging (and often crafting) at a lower priority level in my life.

No worries though... it's all good! So, without telling you everything about my life today, let's just sum it up with this statement.... I had put my career on hold for the last 15 years as I raised my family and am happily now pursuing a career in pricing and finance. I went back to work full-time a few years ago and for the last 18 months have been in a pretty exciting and demanding job. What do I do? Well, here is my elevator pitch. I manage and provide strategic direction for pricing for strategic customers. I have a small team and together we help the global sales and business unit managers succeed in pricing negotiations with a lot of pricing analytics and con-calls! My favorite thing to do at work is present and communicate and lately I've had lots of opportunity to do presentations at all levels of my organization - from presenting to the c-suite, to presenting to the people who answer the quotes and process the orders. I also have had a few opportunities to present to the pricing community. Just last week I presented '5 ingredients for successful deal negotiations' for the professional pricing society on a webinar. It takes a lot of preparation, but I love it!

I'm happy to focus most of my attention to my work and when I'm not working, I am trying to spend my free time not in front of a screen, thus the blog has gone unattended.

But today seems like a good day to update my blog post about a topic many of you, my blog readers, will face someday. Today's topic is - 'How to beautifully and loving releasing your son to his wife.'

So my baby, my adorable and beloved youngest son Eric, got married in early June. We adore his wife Jessa and have known her since she was 16 years old. We had a glorious day celebrating their marriage and a few weeks ago we drove them to the airport (at 4am) and kissed them goodbye as they started their new life across the country in northern California.

On their way! CA here we come!

We've known they were moving to CA since April, when Eric told us her was pursuing a job opportunity there. For the last few weeks and months, many people have asked me how I feel about this move and while I must confess I am a little sad about it, the mature part of me knows it is a healthy and natural thing to happen. When the sadness creeps in, I hold firm to the goodness of God and the wisdom of all those who have faced this transition before me. So what does God's word say about this? It clearly says that a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife. I think we all know what leave means but what the heck does cleave really mean? Here is what Merriam Webster says

'to adhere firmly and closely or loyally and unwaveringly

'

So basically, what God's word says about this topic is that the wise thing to do is for a young couple to leave behind their lives as single people and join together with their spouse in a solidly new relationship.

I do's are done..... now onto the party! Mr. and Mrs Eric Monroe...

They are so stinking adorable. Love them both sooo much!

Part of me is sad that they are so far away (and in a different time zone) but it's fun to talk to them and hear all their new grown up adventures. And it will be fun to visit them when we go this fall! Since they only have each other and are starting out with new jobs, new apartment, new friends, it will actually be easier for them to leave behind their old single lives. What won't be easy will be navigating through all the challenges of being young and poor and learning how to love each other and live together! I have faith that they'll make it. They are both wonderful people and solidly committed to loving each other with a real sacrificial love. It won't be easy, but if they work at it, it will be worth it! I pray for them and know God will meet their needs if they seek Him.

So what's next for my blog? Well, I'm not planning to abandon it!!!! Instead, I'll probably post once a month or so, so please do stay as a follower and leave me comments!